Cable conveyer.



PATENTED AN. 22, 1907. U. A. enmmn. CABLE GONVBYER, APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1906.

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INVENTOR. ZQJXZS/Z Gar/13d ATTORNEY;

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n. A. GARRBD.

CABLE 'GONVEY-ER. APPLIOATIQN FILED MAY as, 1906.

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BY (j/111 -ATTOR1VEI.

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PATENTED JAN. 22, 1907.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

COPPER MINING COMPANY, OF ANACONDA,

TlON OF MONTANA.

CABLE CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 22, 1907.

Application filed May 23, 1906. Serial No. 319,204.

To-all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ULYssEsA. GARRED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anaconda, in the county of Deerlodge and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable Conveyers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in cable conveyers; and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the general arrangement of the system. Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational detail of the dumping-button. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3 of 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation (parts broken away) of the dumping-trolley. Fig. 5 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 6 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of the drums of the dumping-rope and weight-rope and clutch therefor. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the carriage and fall-block. Fig. 9 is a transverse section on line 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an edge view of the fall-block; and Fig. 11 is .an edge view of one of the rope-carriers, the ropes being in section.

The present invention has relation to that class of conveyers in which a carriage mounted on a cable and carrying a bucket is drawn back and forth on the cable, the bucket being dumped at predetermined points along the length of the cable.

The invention herein has for its object to improve the general efficiency of the system and is directed to the details of the carriage proper and the fall-block coupled thereto, to v the specific features of dumping the bucket, to the means for shifting the location of the point at which the dumping shall take place, to the means for cushioning the impact of the parts by which the dumping is effected, to the specific disposition of the various cables forming the system, to the specific details of the stops or buttons by which the rope-carriers are distributed and by which the trolley coupled to the bucket is intercepted, and to other features of construction the specific advantages of which will be more fully apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, T T represent (in dotted outline) two traveling towers between which the main cable 1 is stretched, the ends of the cable being suitably anchored to the platforms of the towers and providedwith a take-up 2 for purposes of tightening the cable and taking up the slack. Adapted to travel on the main cable (or equivalent track or way) between the towers is a carriage O, the details of whose construction will be hereinafter entered into, said carriage havingcoupled thereto a fall-block F, carrying the bucket B, which may be lowered to the ground at any predetermined point along MONTANA, A CORPORA- the cable, the bucket being filled with dirt,

then raised and shifted along the main cable to some other point, and there automatically dumped, all as will presently more fully hereinafter appear. The parts just mentioned and the fall-rope and carriers, to be presently referred to, are well understood in the art, and I lay no claim thereto.

Mounted on the platform of the headtower T is a hoisting-engine E, operating the drums 3 4, respectively, the former having wound thereon the terminal wraps of the hoisting-rope 5, which passes over a sheave 6 in the head-tower, thence through the carriers 7 and over the sheave 8 of the carriage down through the tackle or fall-block of the bucket, thence over the sheave 9 of the carriage, thence through the tackle-block, and finally connecting to the carriage. The object of said drum 3 and hoisting-rope 5 (sometimes called the fall-rope) is toraise and lower the bucket, and likewise to dredge it into the dirt, slum, or other material, so as to fill the bucket. Wrapped around the periphery of'the drum l is the inhaul and outhaul rope, the inhaul-section 10 (the inhaul and outhaul being virtually one rope, though two distinct ropes maybe used) passing over the drum 4, thence over sheave 11 in the head-tower, through the carriers 7, being then connected to the carriage, the latter conforming in its travel to the direction in which the drum 4 is rotated. The outhaulsection 10 of the rope passing under the drum 4, thence under sheave 12 and over sheave 13 in the head-tower, thence over sheaves 14 and 15 in the tailtower, is then connected to the opposite end of the carriage. The button-rope 16 (well-known in the art) or the rope provided with the buttons 17, which distribute the carriers 7 on the cable, has one end secured to a spring-cushioned weight-box 18 to keep it taut, whence it passes over a sheave 19 inthe head-tower, thence through the top of the carriers], thence through the top of the carriage, having its opposite end secured to the tail-tower.

The dumping of the material under my present improvement is accomplished through the medium of a dumping or dump rope 20, provided with a button 21, which at the proper moment intercepts a trolley L, connected with the trip-rope 23, coupled to the tripping-trigger 24 of the bucket B. This dumping-rope has three or four wraps around the drum 25, located near the hoist ing-engine, whence the rope passes over a sheave 26 on the head-tower, thence over the sheave 27 on the tail-tower, thence under sheave 28, back through the dumping-trolley L, thence through the outer loop of the carriage, (to be presently described in detail,) thence through the carriers 7, over the sheave 29 on the head-tower, and down to the opposite side of the drum 25. Adapted to be coupled to the shaft of the drum by means of a sliding clutch 30, Fig. 7 is a drum 31, which has wrapped around it several wraps of weight-rope 32, said rope running up over a sheave 33 on the head-tower and down to a spring-cushioned weightebox 34 at the end of the rope. When the drums 25 and 31 are clutched to rotate in unison with their supporting-shaft and the dumpingbutton 21 is set in the position desired, the weight rests on its foundation. In moving the carriage in toward the head-tower, the dumping-trolley follows along on the dumprope 20 until it engages and 1s intercepted by the dumping-button, the arrest of the trolley drawing on the trip-rope 23, thereby actuating the trigger 24 and releasing the lockinglatch 24 of the bucket and dumping the latter. -The advantage of the weight 34 is to prevent any unnecessary jerk on the dumprope, or, in other words, should the engineer run beyond the point of stoppage, as defined by the position of the dumping-button 21, the weight 34 would be raised, owing to the winding of the weight-rope on the drum 31, and by so doing this would prevent the danger of breaking the dump-rope 20. As the carriage started on its out trip or back toward the tail tower, the weight 34 would rotate the drums 25 31 in the opposite direct1on, thus shifting the dumping-rope and restoring its button to the original position it occupied before the displacement referred to. If it is desired to shift the button 21 in order to dump in a different location, the drums 25 31 are uncoupled by proper disengagement of the clutch from the latter,drum,when the drum 25 is free to rotate without rotating the drum 31 with it. We can then rotate the drum 25 in either direction, thereby moving the dumping-rope correspondingly, and thus shift the position of the button 21, as required. When the dumping-button is properly located, the drums 25 31 are again coupled together and ready for the next operation. VV'th the exception of the upper lap of the dumping-rope and the outhaul-section of the inhaul and outhaul rope all the other ropes are properly supported by the carriers, as shown in the drawings, Fig. 11. In other words, the carriers support the button-rope, the hoistingrope, the inhaul-rope, and dumping-rope, the carriers themselves being directly supported by the main cable 1.

To facilitate the attachment of the buttons both on the button-rope and the dumping-rope and without resorting to the necessity of removing the ropes from the tower, the buttons are preferably made in two sections, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, representing the dumping-button 21. One of the sections is provided with a radial passage 35, through which Babbitt metal 36 is poured around the rope 20, after which the sections are clamped together by suitable bolts or screws.

The trolley L, Figs, 4, 5, 6, is composed of a suitable frame or casing having two pair of sheaves, between which the rope 20 plays, the front of the trolley-frame being provided with a striking-plate 37, through which the rope freely travels, but which impinges against the dumping-button 21 when the carriage has been drawn the required distance to effect the interception of the trolley. Of course the point of dumping of the bucket from the button 21 will depend on the length of the trip-rope 23, which should be long enough to allow the bucket to reach the ground when lowered by the hoisting-rope.

The carriage C (shown in detail in Figs. 8 and 9) comprises a body portion composed of side plates 38 38, between which are mounted the sheaves 8 9, each sheave being mounted between the annular sheave-guards 39,Which guide the rope 5 over the sheaves. The rear of the carriage terminates in a buffer 40, which impinges against the trolley on its out trip. The side of the carriage-body is provided with a loop 41, in which are mounted the sheave 42 and roller 43 for the passage of the dumping-rope 20. 011 each side of the bottom of the carriage is secured on suitable angle-supports 44 a runner or board 45. Between the opposite upper ends of the plates ried thereby to respond to the variations in the sag of the main cable 1. The outer ends of the oscillating plates 46 47 have pivotally mounted between them the airs of truckplates 50 50, each pair constituting a truck for the sheaves 51 traveling over the cable. The intermediate truck-plates 50, pivoted about the pin 48, are free to play up and down relatively to the fixed pivotal axes of the plates 46 47 by virtue of the elongation of the slot 49, thus permitting the sheaves 51 of the middle truck to always hug the cable 1 whatever be the degree to which it may sag under its load. The carriage thus becomes flexible, and the strains to which it is subjected are distributed-to the best advantage.

The fall-block F is composed of the outer disks or plates 52 52, an intermediate disk 53, the sheaves 54 54 being mounted between them, one side of the block being protected by awall 55, (having a suitable cut-away portion for the passage of the ropes,) secured to the angle-pieces 56. The'sides of the block are provided with straps or hangers 57, from which the bucket B is suspended.

The operation may be briefly stated to be as follows: By paying out the hoisting or fall rope 5 the fall-block, with its bucket, descends to the ground, where the bucket is filled. The bucket may be shifted to any point between the towers before it is lowered by drawing on either the inhaul or outhaul rope 10 10, depending on the direction which the carriage must take to reach the given point. When the bucket is filled, the hoisting-rope is drawn in so as to raise the bucket to the carriage, when the latter is drawn in toward the head-tower T until the trolley L encounters the button 21, when the dump-rope 23 will be drawn taut and the bucket dumped. The bucket here shown is well-known and requires no explanation, except to state that it is pivoted below the center of gravity when full and when released by its latch 24 it turns over on its axis of suspension and dis charges .its contents. Other features here shown but not alluded to are well understood in the art and require no description.

Having described my invention, What I claim is 1. In a cable conveyer, a main cable or.

the path of travel of said carriage for effecting a discharge of the bucket when the carriage has reached a given point, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cable conveyer, a main cable or way, a carriage traveling along the same, a bucket suspended from the carriage, a dumping-rope disposed contiguous to the cable,

and a button on the rope for effecting the disv charge of the bucket when the carriage has reached a given point in its travel, substantially as set forth.

3. In a cable conveyer, a main cable or way, a carriage traveling along the same, a bucket suspended from the carriage, a dumping-rope d sposed contiguous to the cable, a button on the rope, means coupled to the bucket and traversing the button-rope adapted by impact against the button to effect discharge of the bucket, and means coupled to the rope for cushioning such impact, substantially as set forth.

4. In a cable conveyer, a main cable or way, a carriage traveling along the same, a

bucket suspended from the carriage, a dump-- ing-rope disposed contiguous to the cable, a button on the rope adapted to be positioned at any convenient point along the path of travel of the carriage, a trolley traversing the dumping-rope and adapted to impinge against the button thereon, connections between the trolley and bucket for effecting discharge of the bucket upon impact of the trolley with the button, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with a main cable ,a carriage having a body portion depending below the cable, suitable members at opposite ends of the carriage pivotally secured between their opposite ends to the body portion and having their inner adjacent ends movably coupled to one another whereby said members are susceptible of a limited oscillation in a vertical plane, trucks pivoted at points intermediate of their length, carried respectively at the outer ends of said oscillating members and at their adjacent inner ends,

and sheaves mounted on the trucks and traveling over the cable, substantially as set forth.

6. In a cable conveyer, a main cable, a dumping-rope provided with a button disposed contiguous thereto, a carriage traveling on the cable and having a passage-way for the dumping-rope, a bucket suspended from the carriage, a trolley traversing the IIO connected to the second drum for taking up the impact to which the rope is subjected, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ULYSSES A. GARRED.

Witnesses: v

HERBERT R. BURG, W. H. SHEERIN. 

